The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) review

If I haven't made it clear before, I'm not a huge fan of Marvel's plan to reboot the Spider-Man franchise barely half a decade after Sam Raimi finished off his Spider-Man trilogy in 2007. Now when it comes to reboots, usually they are done if the previous film in the series didn't do well financially and/or critically. Of course, Spider-Man 3 wasn't all that great compared to the first two films, but it wasn't a financial failure. Really, the only reason why this happened in the first place was because Marvel wanted a fourth Spider-Man film to be made for a 2011 release, and the problem was that Raimi wouldn't have had as much creative integrity as he had with the other films if he had the film done by then. I believe that what Marvel should have done was give Raimi more time so that he could have made the film his way because there are some instances where the director's final product isn't exactly what he or she intended it to be and those cuts don't turn out as good. Spider-Man 4 could have very much been just as good as the first two films, or possibly better.

But enough of my ranting, because the real question is whether or not director Marc Webb's take on everybody's favorite web slinging superhero works as a movie. Well, in terms of reboots, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' does succeed in being its own story and Webb brings his unique vision to the story of Spider-Man with great success. True, it does have a lot in common with the first Spider-Man film but it does do enough to separate itself from the previous films that came before it without directly copying them. But the biggest surprise is how in some areas, this film improves on Raimi's films from the chemistry between the main characters to just how some of these characters are written compared to previous films. Needless to say, this film delivers on giving us a more realistic take on Spider-Man than ever before.

This story follows Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) while he is a high school student in New York. A social outcast amongst his classmates, Peter vies for the affections of his classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and also seeks the answers to what happened the night his parents left him with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), having never heard from them again. He learns that his father used to work at Oscorp Industries with fellow scientist Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and while visiting there, he is bitten by a genetically-enhanced spider and gains spider-like powers from it. He uses these powers to become the crime fighting superhero Spider-Man, but he soon has to deal with a new problem that emerges when Connors tests a new regeneration formula on himself, becoming the monstrous Lizard.

Comparing Raimi's films to this new film is inevitable, but the key thing to note here is that Webb's version is much more focused on its characters compared to the other films. Andrew Garfield is great as Peter Parker, and if there's one thing that he does better than Tobey Maguire, it is making Spider-Man the wisecracking superhero that he is supposed to be. As for his love interest Gwen Stacy and her father George (Denis Leary), the Police Captain who hunts both the Lizard and Spider-Man as a suspected criminal, they are given much deserved bigger roles than in Spider-Man 3. Emma Stone is both radiant and charming as Gwen Stacy, and in terms of the romantic chemistry between Garfield and Stone, the only other time there has been a romantic chemistry this good was Captain America: The First Avenger. It's very natural and realistic, which is a big improvement over the romance between Maguire and Dunst in Raimi's films.

As for the rest of the cast, they also do a fantastic job. Rhys Ifans brings much depth to the role of Dr. Connors and while I hate to bash on Raimi's films again, this film does give The Lizard the proper role he deserves. While he was given a fairly decent role in Raimi's films, he was really just a side character in those films and he never even turned into the Lizard. This version of Dr. Connors also has a good motive for doing what he does. Having lost his arm, he is hopeful that he can find a proper regeneration serum that will not just help him, but many others that are in the same situation that he is in. Denis Leary brings the right attitude to the character of George Stacy and Martin Sheen and Sally Field provide a more authoritative but still very much caring take on the characters of Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

Really, the best way to describe this film compared to Raimi's films is that it is much more realistic in tone. That does seem odd to say considering the premise, but as good as Raimi's films are, they are rather cheesy. The dialogue of the first film is a prime example of this, and the less said about Spider-Man 3, the better. Even Spider-Man 2, the best of Raimi's trilogy, had its cheesy moments though they were less frequent than the other two films. Webb's film is more focused on the story and fleshing out the characters, and is much more serious in tone. We go even further into why Peter Parker became Spider-Man in the first place, having long looking for the answers as to why his parents left him. There was more to it than just the bite from that one spider. This has a lot in common to how Christopher Nolan rebooted the Batman franchise, after the last two films before 'Begins' were more similar in tone to the old Batman TV series of the 1960's than the first two Batman films by Tim Burton.

All in all, this take on Spider-Man does not only successfully separate itself from Raimi's films, but it surprisingly also manages to improve on some of the faults of the previous films by focusing more on the story and characters. I'm still not the biggest fan of this reboot being done so early, but I'm glad that it actually turned out really good. Compared to Raimi's films, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' is more realistic in tone similar to the Christopher Nolan Batman films and if I had to compare the two leads of both Raimi's films and this film, Garfield and Stone are just more compelling to watch. I'm very much interested in seeing how they will now move on with this franchise. While I don't want to give anything away, the end credits does give us a look at who will be the next main villain, and if you follow the movie closely, it does seem pretty clear as to who this character is. But we won't see the next film for two more years so we'll just have to wait and see what the filmmakers will decide to do next for Spider-Man and I have no problem with the way they're doing it now.

Rating: 4.5/5

Spider-Man 3 (2007) review

(Warning: There may be Spoilers)

I wish I could come out and say that Spider-Man 3 was another great film just like the two that came before it, effectively capping a great trilogy of films. Unfortunately, I cannot say that because Spider-Man 3 just isn't as good as its predecessors, falling victim to the dreaded 'third film' curse that has plagued many franchises from Star Wars to X-Men. The main issue with this film comes in its writing, as it juggles way too many plot lines, characters, and villains, making it very uneven compared to the first two films. Not only that, but some of these plot lines are either underdeveloped or just handled the wrong way. But is this truly that bad of a film? Quite frankly, it isn't because what does work in this film does work, from the cast to the action sequences. It's a shame they're let down by a mess of a script that hurts what should have been a great end to this great franchise.

A lot has changed for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) ever since he was bitten by that genetically-altered super-spider, becoming the webslinger superhero Spider-Man. He has become an icon in the city of New York and plans to propose to the love of his life, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). However, things start to go haywire for Peter when an alien symbiote crashes down into New York and fuses itself to Peter, turning his suit black and also changing his personality. It also doesn't help that Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), the man who Peter learns had actually killed his Uncle Ben, has broken out of prison having recently become the shape-shifting criminal 'Sandman' and his old friend Harry (James Franco), who now knows who Peter really is, has taken up his father's mantle as the 'New Goblin' to exact his revenge on Peter for supposedly murdering his father.

There certainly are many problems with this film, but the biggest has to be that the film has too many villains to fit into just a single movie. As if Sandman and New Goblin weren't enough, then the film adds in Eddie Brock (played by Topher Grace), who later becomes fused with the symbiote becoming Venom. Obviously, Venom is a major character in the Spider-Man universe... and yet he's only on screen as Venom for like ten minutes. The truth is, Sam Raimi didn't even wanted to use Venom but was pressured into doing so. If anything, we should at least be glad that we did see Venom especially now that this version of Spider-Man is done.

But if Raimi did have the chance to do a fourth film, he should have just had Venom be the villain in that film and just go with Sandman and New Goblin as the villains because both Church and Franco were actually given very good development overall. With Sandman, we're able to sympathize with him because he's not entirely a bad guy. It's the same situation as with Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 because he's just a guy who “has just had back luck” as the movie puts it. With this film, Harry Osborn is given a proper character arc as a man who is burdened not only by his father's legacy but now has a vendetta against his best friend because he's the one that Harry believes murdered his father.

Venom isn't the only underdeveloped addition to the cast though. The film also doesn't do much with the Stacys, Police Captain George (James Cromwell) and his daughter Gwen (Bryce Dallas Howard). It would make sense to give them good material because in the comics, Gwen Stacy just so happens to be Peter's first girlfriend even before Mary Jane and while the film does play her as somewhat of a 'rival' to Mary Jane for Peter's affections, she isn't given much else to do once that plot line is over. As for her father, he's really just there to tell Peter the truth about who really killed his uncle. Gwen, her father, and Venom may be important characters in the comics but here, they're just side characters by the end of it all.

In terms of the many plot lines of this movie, a lot of them come from the previously mentioned 'side characters' but there is one that isn't handled very well and that just so happens to be the main conflict that Spider-Man faces in the movie as this symbiote starts to change more than just his suit. At first, it is handled very well as we see how Peter is becoming more separate from Mary Jane and also vengeful against Sandman for killing his uncle. But once Peter starts going emo, it all starts to go downhill. What should be a really serious conflict in Peter's life is instead played up for laughs and when he is being threatening to someone, it's not that believable and makes him look more like a jerk. Things do get serious again later on in the film, but it doesn't help after we had just seen Peter do a dance a la Jerry Lewis in 'The Nutty Professor' because the tone is incredibly inconsistent, conflicted between both goofy and serious moments.

Even with all of these problems, the film itself isn't that bad of a film. Like before, the cast does still do a good job. However, this time Maguire comes off a bit more goofier than before and that whole emo turn doesn't help much either. Still, when he has to be serious, he still does a good job as Peter Parker. The same goes for the rest of the returning cast and the new members of the cast as well, even with the little material that some of them are given. The effects are still great and the action sequences in this film particularly are some of the best in any recent comic book movie. If this script wasn't as messy as it was, then this would've been one heck of a final film but that just isn't the case here. However, the film does end on somewhat of a high note.

Really when you get down to it, Spider-Man 3 isn't really as bad as most people have put it. However, there still are problems mainly with the script. Too many villains, some characters and plot lines that either go nowhere or aren't handled very well, etc. But this isn't a total mess of a film. The acting is still very good and it is still a very entertaining film from beginning to end. It's a shame that what started out with a great first film and was then followed by an even better sequel ends with a less than stellar 'threequel'. But now Marvel has moved on with a new reboot, even though it is only five years after this film. How will director Marc Webb and new leads Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone do in 'The Amazing Spider-Man'? Well, we're just going to have to stay tuned and find out when the film comes out on July 3^rd.

Rating: 3/5

Spider-Man 2 (2004) review

It is extremely rare when a sequel is not only as good as its predecessor, but actually better. When it comes to these kinds of movies, most people would probably say 'Terminator 2', 'Aliens', or 'The Godfather Part II', and in terms of comic book movies, the obvious answer would be Spider-Man 2. While its predecessor can be regarded as one of the landmark movies of the superhero genre, Spider-Man 2 sets the standard for how great a comic book movie can really be. Pretty much every problem that the first movie had is fixed here, and the story delves deeper into the conflicts that the main character faces both physically and emotionally. Add in a great cast and a even greater villain and you have one of the best superhero movies of all time.

Two years after the events of the first film, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has struggled to balance life as both himself and as the webslinger crime-fighter Spider-Man. Unable to handle both identities, he has distanced himself from everyone he cares about. The love of his life, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), is about to marry an astronaut, and his friend Harry (James Franco) holds a personal vendetta against Spider-Man who he believes murdered his father. As Peter's life starts to become more stressful, his powers start to become unreliable, and he considers a life away from being Spider-Man. Meanwhile, renowned scientist Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), after a failed experiment which results in the death of his wife, turns to a life of crime, endangering the whole world in the process.

Where Spider-Man succeeding in telling an origin story, Spider-Man 2 succeeds in diving even deeper into the character of Peter Parker and the many problems he has dealing with his two identities as he tries to balance everything in his life. He is losing the people he cares for because of his responsibilities to both them and to New York as Spider-Man and because he can't handle both lives at the same time, he even gives up being Spider-Man at one point to live his own life. The writers not only did an amazing job with Spider-Man but also with the film's villain, Doc Ock. Instead of making him a guy who just became evil for the fun of it, the writers made him a character we can sympathize with, having turned evil because of the terrible things that happened to him.

Any problem that the first film had (or in this case, now has) is non-existent here. The effects are very much improved on and the dialogue isn't as cheesy as it was before. This time, Raimi perfectly blends humor with drama compared to the first film where looking at it now, some of it is really hard to take seriously because of the dialogue. Maguire yet again does a fantastic job as Peter Parker and the returning cast of Dunst, Franco, and Rosemary Harris do great as well. Franco is also given a much more substantial role this time as Harry, now burdened by the legacy his father left for him and also angry at Spider-Man for taking his father away from him, even though he didn't. Alfred Molina is also brilliant as Octavius, giving much depth to the role like any great villain.

The first Spider-Man movie may still be a great movie, but Spider-Man 2 is nothing less than brilliant. Every problem that the first film had is fixed and the writers did an amazing job at delving into the many conflicts of Peter Parker. The character of Dr. Octavius is also one of the best villains ever in a comic book movie, which is also thanks in part to the writing. Like with any good sequel, the stakes are raised even higher than they were before and the film does not disappoint in any way. Very rarely has a comic book movie gone this far in developing its characters and Spider-Man 2 stands strong as one of the best comic book movies ever made. Heck, I'd go as far and say one of the best movies ever.

Rating: 5/5!

Next up: Spider-Man 3, which obviously is a different story compared to the first two films